Security forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators on Monday in Conakry, Guinea, killing dozens, according to witnesses and news reports. Troops opened fire as thousands of opponents of the military junta led by Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara gathered in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, to protest his plans to run in presidential elections next January.
At first the troops fired tear gas at the crowd, estimated to have as many as 50,000 people, and then they started shooting, according to witnesses, who described scenes of panic and terror.
Witnesses spoke of seeing numerous wounded and dead demonstrators. Agence France-Presse, citing a doctor at a local morgue, reported that 58 bodies had been brought in. Reuters also reported 58 deaths, citing a human rights advocate.
The violence came after months of tension in the impoverished West African nation, brought on by what has been widely described as the erratic behavior of Captain Camara, the military man who led a coup last December, soon after the death of the longtime leader Lansana Conté.
At first welcomed by citizens weary from decades of authoritarian rule, Captain Camara has since lost support because of the actions of his troops — which human rights groups say include robberies, beatings and rapes — and his own inconsistencies.
He appears to make all government decisions alone, frequently with television cameras rolling. Tirades about drug dealers and incompetent officials; interrogations of Mr. Conté’s henchmen; and homilies about his own humble background have all been beamed into people’s homes.
The “Dadis Show,” as Guineans call it, has palled after initially beguiling people in the former French colony, and increasing numbers have demonstrated to hold Captain Camara to his pledge not to run for office. Recent suggestions that he would run mobilized the crowd on Monday, which included a number of opposition figures, who were subsequently wounded and arrested.
Source: New York Times
No comments:
Post a Comment